Indian Country Today Media Network.com - Traditionhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/category/tradition
Finding comfort in ancient practices and beliefs that inform and define indigenous cultures.enThe Irish, the Potato and the Choctawhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/18/irish-potato-and-choctaw
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Let me just say I am a fan of the Irish. Not a lick Irish, but I love the Irish, their music, their tragic sense of humor, resilience—and their food. Well maybe not the food, and I’m not much of a drinker, so not even a Guinness. But what I will tell you is that I’ve found many a kindred spirit in Ireland.</p>
<p>I traveled there in l98l, the height of the Hunger Strikes. There men were dying on the H Block, a notorious prison for political prisoners, including Bobby Sands, who had been elected as a Member of Parliament. Sands, as a member of the Irish Republican Army was not seated, and instead died in prison—the first of 17 to die in that horrible time. That was my first visit to Ireland, the first time I ever saw razor wire, armored personnel carriers in residential neighborhoods and my first riot. Leave it to the Irish to mess up my idea of what first world democracy looks like. And then write songs about it.</p>
<p>So in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, which has always been a bizarre holiday to me, I write this story about the Irish, the potato and the Choctaw.</p>
<p>The potato is one of the great gifts from the Western hemisphere. It’s a gift given by Indigenous peoples to the world, the same peoples who have provided about two thirds of the major food crops in the world (corn, tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate; just a few of the contributions). The lesson of potatoes, however, did not go with those tubers. That is to say the 3,000 or so varieties of potatoes perfected in South America illustrated immense agro biodiversity, variations in nutritional content, pest resistance, and agility to become the food that would feed the world.</p>
<p>Potatoes provide 7.5 million calories per hectare of land (compared to wheat offering 4.2 million calories) and provide a source of vitamin C that improves nutrition immensely. It’s argued that the potato liberated Europe from famine. After all, as historian Jack Weatherford notes, there were 111 famines in France from l371 to l79l, leaving a lean country indeed. The elegance of a potato (something which exists below ground but is poisonous above ground), meant that population would flourish thanks to this new source of nutrition. It can also be argued that the potato’s growth in Europe did not work out so well for those of us in the Western hemisphere after it helped secure world power status for Europe.</p>
<p>Not so for the Irish. But that is, as we all now know, a result of British colonialism, which forced the Irish to grow a potato mono crop, until the blight came. The result: a million perished and another million emigrated. This was an enforced famine – wheat flourished in Ireland during the famine, but the British harvested and exported this wheat to feed their people in their colonial conquests worldwide. Had the Irish been able to access this food source, the number who died from hunger would have been far fewer.</p>
<p>Mono crops are dangerous. The Irish potato famine should have taught us that long ago. Today the potato mono crop is plaguing western Minnesota, where 50,000 acres of potato mono crop now demand extensive water and a cocktail of chemicals, contaminating groundwater in the region. That story is still unfolding as the RDO Offutt Company seeks to turn pine lands into potato fields, adding up to 27,000 acres more. (The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a very short comment period, open now. Please weigh in with your thoughts.)<br />But, back to St. Patrick’s Day. Let us recognize the fine relationship between Native people of the Americas and the Irish. In the city of Cork in Southern Ireland, a sculpture is being erected to honor the Choctaw Nation. The Choctaw Nation sent $170 (about $5000 in today’s money, according to Choctaw officials) to the Irish for famine relief in 1845.<br />“These gentle folk were at their most downtrodden, they raised $170 and sent it across the Atlantic to Ireland, to ease our famine woes,” sculptor Alex Pentek told the <em>Irish Examiner</em>.</p>
<p>Pentek is finishing ‘Kindred Spirits,’ a giant, stainless steel sculpture in praise of the Choctaw people. “These people were still recovering from their own injustice. They put their hands in their pockets. They helped strangers. It’s rare to see such generosity. It had to be acknowledged.” The sculpture is a metal set of eagle feathers in a bowl form – $100,000 worth of homage.</p>
<p>Just 13 years before the famine, the Choctaws were forced to march 1,200 miles on the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw, Cherokee, Muskogee, Chickasaw and Seminole (the Five Civilized Tribes) were forced at gunpoint to abandon their fertile lands and exiled to Oklahoma territory. On the way, at least 6,000 perished.</p>
<p>“It was a slowly unfolding horror story. To see members of your family drop to the side of the road and to be powerless. To change that course of history, that stirred my imagination,” said Pentek. So it is, far away, there is a tribute to a little known page in history.</p>
<p>On this St. Patrick’s Day, I want to remember the dignity of human spirit from the Choctaw to Bobby Sands, and the diversity and beauty of the potato, one of the great gifts to us all.</p>
<p><em>Winona LaDuke, Anishinaabe, is an American Indian activist, environmentalist, economist and writer.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Irish, the Potato and the Choctaw</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/culture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Culture</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/editors-pics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Editor&#039;s pics</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Winona LaDuke</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/winona-laduke" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winona LaDuke</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/irish" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Irish</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/choctaw" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Choctaw</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/st-patricks-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">St. Patrick&#039;s Day</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/winona-laduke" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Winona LaDuke</a></div></div></div>Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:46:42 +0000mazecyrus159646 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/18/irish-potato-and-choctaw#commentsOscars Protest for Equal Pay for Women Was Long Overduehttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/02/25/oscars-protest-equal-pay-women-was-long-overdue
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><span style="line-height:1.6em;">The Oscars seem to produce a Sacheen Littlefeather moment every year, and this year Patricia Arquette, accepting the little gold guy for Best Supporting Actress in </span><em style="line-height:1.6em;">Boyhood</em><span style="line-height:1.6em;">, departed from the script of thanking the academy, family, colleagues, and pets.</span></p>
<p>Arquette called for wage equality between men and women, which has been the law on paper since the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Or would that be Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, into which Rep. Howard Smith (D-Virginia) inserted the word “sex?” Smith was a Dixiecrat who was opposed to all civil rights legislation, and the purpose was to make the bill so absurd it would fall of its own weight.</p>
<p>It is fair for a bewildered voter to ask how it was that the first legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act? First, let me confess that when I was in the private practice of law, I did make some money with Title VII. I mention this to illustrate a point. I worked for one of the leading civil rights law firms in Austin and Title VII was bread and butter.</p>
<p>When I worked for that group of lawyers I had come up admiring, we never lost a race case and we never won a sex case. Do you really believe we knew how to pick the former but our evaluation skills failed us whenever the plaintiff was female? Our reason for taking sex cases was what it had been a decade earlier for taking race cases: to fight the good fight, because we did not enter the practice of law primarily to enrich ourselves and we were sensitive to the criticism that we did well by doing good.</p>
<p>The Lilly Ledbetter law was born in a dissent penned by the liberal anchor of the SCOTUS, who recently acquired the nickname “Notorious R.B.G.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have been the first woman on the SCOTUS if a Democrat had made the appointment. As co-founder and chief tactician for the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, she was the architect of an equality push under the Fourteenth Amendment that came within one SCOTUS vote of rendering the Equal Rights Amendment superfluous.</p>
<p>As an aside, most of my students at a first rate public university were under the impression that the Equal Rights Amendment has been ratified and is part of the U.S. Constitution. I assume that right now I’m speaking to adults who understand that sex equality failed, and I do hope they share my opinion that was tragic.</p>
<p>There is a hoary principle of Anglo-American law that the statute of limitations does not begin to run on a claim until the owner of the claim knew or should have known it existed. The fairness of this principle should be obvious.</p>
<p>We have statutes of limitations so the courts don’t have to try cases so old nobody can remember how they started, but we don’t cut off a valid claim with limitation unless the plaintiff was just sitting on the claim, letting it get old on purpose.</p>
<p>Lilly Ledbetter went to work for Goodyear Tire and Rubber in 1979, and her union contract guaranteed that she started at the same wages as her male counterparts. But by retirement, she was earning $3,727 a month. Her male counterparts made between $4,286 and $5,236 for the same work.</p>
<p>The law required her to complain of unequal pay within 180 days. She complained as soon as she found out about it. The SCOTUS rejected Ledbetter’s argument that each paycheck was an act of discrimination. Plainly, the pay differential had arisen over years, and the SCOTUS said the discrimination had to have happened outside the limitations period and so most of her claim was dead.</p>
<p>The decision was 5-4, and the Notorious R.B.G. penned a sizzling dissent that called upon Congress to repair the hole in the law ripped open by her colleagues. She also took the unusual step of reading her dissenting opinion from the Bench. I will refrain from riffing at length on how the same usual suspects ripped similar holes in the Voting Rights Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act. Judges, like legislators and executives, tend to support equal rights under law either for everybody or for nobody. The only place I’ve seen significant picking and choosing is protection of LGBT peoples.</p>
<p>The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was introduced right away, but defeated by Republicans in the Senate. It became an issue in the 2008 election, with Sen. John McCain opposed and Sen. Obama in favor. GOP opposition was based on the claim that passing the law would result in a wave of frivolous lawsuits that would smack down recovery from the Great Recession and destroy jobs.</p>
<p>This is how Lilly Ledbetter’s name came to be on the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama. In this as in everything, the history of my Cherokee Nation influences my opinion. Cherokees learned sex discrimination from the colonists.</p>
<p>The colonists did not want any females signing treaties, regardless of their representative status. Early marry-ins were shocked to find family and property customs stacked against the idea from England that man and wife, upon marriage, became one—and <em>he</em> was the one. From the cultural norm that daughters could aspire to anything we wanted for sons, from a maternal clan identity, Cherokees “reformed” as a patriarchy. Wilma Mankiller’s service as Principal Chief was not an innovation but rather a return to traditions older than the United States.</p>
<p>I cannot speak to anybody else’s tribal traditions, but I can say that equal regard for mothers and sisters and wives and daughters before the law is in my DNA as well as in my professional commitments. In my lifetime, I’ve seen the Equal Rights Amendment defeated by frivolous arguments, equal pay for women attached to civil rights legislation to kill it, and continuing vitality for the argument that men need to get paid more than women because men are family breadwinners and women only work for pin money.</p>
<p>What does it take, I wonder, to elevate women to enough equal regard under the law that the next time Oscar has a Sacheen Littlefeather moment, it’s no longer necessary to demand equality for half the population?</p>
<p><em>Steve Russell, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is a Texas trial court judge by assignment and associate professor emeritus of criminal justice at Indiana University-Bloomington. He lives in Georgetown, Texas.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Oscars, Traditions &amp; Female Equality </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/culture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Culture</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/government" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/politics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Politics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Steve Russell</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/steve-russell" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Steve Russell</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/academy-awards" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Academy Awards</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/oscars" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Oscars</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/patricia-arquette" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Patricia Arquette</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/john-mccain" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">John McCain</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/canada" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Barack Obama</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/steve-russell" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Steve Russell</a></div></div></div>Wed, 25 Feb 2015 18:00:46 +0000mazecyrus159365 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/02/25/oscars-protest-equal-pay-women-was-long-overdue#commentsThe Rise of Indigenous Peoples Dayhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/10/13/rise-indigenous-peoples-day
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>On October 6, 2014, in a packed Seattle city hall council chambers room, the Seattle city council voted unanimously to rename the second Monday in October, the federal holiday Columbus Day, to Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the city of Seattle. The room erupted in emotion with loud cheers, the sound of drums and the sight of over joyed, smiling and crying faces followed by an impromptu singing of the AIM song in the halls of Seattle city hall.</p>
<p>The Seattle city council vote followed the previous weeks unanimous vote by the Seattle school board to both establish the second Monday in October as a day of observance for Indigenous Peoples’ and to make a board commitment to the teaching of tribal history, culture, governance and current affairs into the Seattle public schools system.</p>
<p>The origins for both the Seattle city council and Seattle school board resolutions date back to 2011, when I was attending an Abolish Columbus Day rally in downtown Seattle. As I was listening to the beautiful songs of a local canoe family, I started thinking about South Dakota and their successful effort to change Columbus Day to Native American Day. That night I decided to contact members of the Seattle city council, as well as, my local State Legislatures to see if they might be willing to do something similar on either the City or State level.</p>
<p>To my surprise, the following morning I got a phone call from Washington State Senator Margarita Prentice and proceeded to have a long conversation about the genocide brought by Columbus to our Native relatives in the Caribbean and how she would love to sponsor a resolution on the State level. She simply asked that I draft a resolution and seek support from area tribes first before she would sponsor the resolution.</p>
<p>Elated, I immediately contacted Theresa Sheldon and Deborah Parker from Tulalip, who were both policy analyst for the Tulalip Tribes at that time, and whom currently sit on the Tulalip Board of Directors, to let them know the news. They agreed to take the resolution to the 2011 Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians annual conference and put the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution before the conference for a vote. The resolution was unanimously approved, and although the resolution ultimately did not succeed on the State level, the seeds of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution for Seattle were sown.</p>
<p>When Minneapolis approved its Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution in the early spring of 2014, I figured now might be a good time to revive our efforts in Seattle especially given that we had two new Seattle city council members who had been responsive to the needs and issues of Seattle’s Native community. I again reached out to the Seattle city council members and before the day was over council member Kshama Sawant responded back that she would sponsor an Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution and asked if I would draft one for her.</p>
<p>I drafted a resolution and sent it out to other members of Seattle’s Native community for additional input. From there a grassroots effort was underway to build broad base support for the resolution. By the time the resolution was presented to the Seattle city council for vote, we gained the endorsement of forty various community organizations, non-profits, human rights organizations, local and national tribal organizations and letters of support from numerous area tribes.</p>
<p>In drafting the resolution, one thought was that we should be pushing for something more than just the renaming of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, so language was included to have the Seattle city council “encourage” the Seattle public schools to adopt the guidelines established by the 2005 H.B. 1495 and the subsequent Since Time Immemorial Tribal Sovereignty curriculum [STI] that was developed out of it.</p>
<p>Many within the Native community had tried for years to get the Seattle public schools to adopt the STI curriculum, but had always been met with resistance. We figured if we could get the Seattle city council to pass a resolution calling on the school district to adopt the curriculum, we would have good leverage to pressure the school board to adopt it.</p>
<p>Over the summer, a letter was sent to the Seattle school board from the Seattle Human Rights Commission, an early resolution backer, to inform them of the efforts being worked on with the Seattle city council surrounding the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution and to encourage them to align efforts with the city to meet the goals of the proposed resolution.</p>
<p>In late July, I was contacted by the Seattle city council and was told that they were ready to put the resolution to the full council for vote. I was given two possible dates to introduce the resolution, one in August and one in September. Since the September date fell on the day before school started in the Seattle area, we went for the September date knowing that we would most likely generate wide-spread media attention and given that Columbus is often one of the things students learn about first, we figured this would be a good strategy to get the evils committed by Columbus on the minds of students.</p>
<p>Up until the September 2<sup>,</sup> Seattle city council hearing we largely kept the Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution from the media spotlight. Days before the council meeting we released a press release on the Last Real Indians webpage, whom I am write for. The idea was that we would be asserting our voice on this issue and establish the framework for which the issue would be discussed on our own terms. As the massive rally descended upon the Seattle city council hearing on September 2, the mainstream press was playing a game of catch up on our resolution that had already generated Turtle Island-wide buzz amongst Native communities.</p>
<p>While a decision was made on September 2 to hold the vote off until October 6, we were able to secure the endorsement of Seattle’s Mayor Ed Murray a generated nationwide attention on our Indigenous Peoples’ Day resolution.</p>
<p>Throughout September, we keep up a steady stream of pressure on both the Seattle city council and Seattle school board with emails, petitions, phone calls, and letters of endorsement from area Tribes and other supporters, as well as, built broad support through social media campaigning.</p>
<p>For me personally, it was phenomenal to see such a concerted and collaborative joint effort develop between Seattle’s urban Native community, Tribe’s and Tribal leaders. By time the October 1 Seattle school board vote and the October 6 Seattle city council vote came around a true urban and Tribal partnership was firmly established. The Seattle city council vote saw testimony given from tribal leaders David Bean (Puyallup), Fawn Sharp (President of both the Quinualt Indian Nation and the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians), Mel Sheldon (former Chair of the Tulalip Tribes), as well as, numerous members of Seattle’s urban Native community.</p>
<p>Throughout the whole process, we keep the perspective that we are simply part of a larger movement being fought on the local grassroots level to not only abolish Columbus Day, but see our communities rise up and assert our own voices on our own terms on issues of importance to us.</p>
<p>We sought to show the power our communities possess when we come together unified under the belief and knowledge that what we do today is both work to heal past generations and lift the spirits of our future generations.</p>
<p>Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day</p>
<p><em>Mitakuye oyasin.</em></p>
<p><em><span>Matt Remle (Lakota) lives in Seattle. He works for the office of Indian Education in the Marysville/Tulalip school district. He is a writer for Last Real Indians @ <a href="http://www.lastrealindians.com" target="_blank">www.lastrealindians.com</a> and runs an online Lakota language program at <a href="http://www.LRInspire.com" target="_blank">www.LRInspire.com</a>. He is a father of three and the author of Seattle's Indigenous Peoples' Day resolution.</span></em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Rise of Indigenous Peoples Day</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/culture" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Culture</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Matt Remle</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/matt-remle" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Matt Remle</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/indigenous-peoples-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Indigenous Peoples Day</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/columbus-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Columbus Day</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/christopher-columbus-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christopher Columbus Day</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/ictmn-logo" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ictmn logo</a></div></div></div>Tue, 14 Oct 2014 00:22:08 +0000mazecyrus157341 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/10/13/rise-indigenous-peoples-day#commentsDo Other Countries Celebrate Columbus Day?http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/10/08/do-other-countries-celebrate-columbus-day
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Baton twirlers, fancy cars and pretty pageant girls with Christmas-colored sashes. These are the things I remember seeing when I went to a Columbus Day Parade a few years back. But of course, those weren’t Christmas colors.</p>
<p>Veterans in uniforms slowly walked by. Men carried Italian flags on one side, and the American flag on the other. Police cars and cops on motorcycles would flash their lights and sound their sirens to amp up the celebration while marching bands passed by, one after another, playing classic Italian songs.</p>
<p>For some reason, I had forgotten that Columbus Day was all about Italians. But what exactly are we celebrating here? All I remember growing up was making colorful art projects depicting <em>La Niña, La Pinta y La Santa Maria</em> – names repeated so many times they stayed stuck in your head like a relentless childhood tune.</p>
<p>It’s a bit confusing, because Columbus was far from a hero. This was a man that was driven by money, power and fame. A man who immediately saw an opportunity of wealth and recognition when he arrived in the Bahamas thinking he had landed in India and was greeted by the indigenous people there. He knew he had to prove himself to the Spanish crown, which of course financed his voyage of colonization after he showed them the spices and riches he had discovered in <em>Hispaniola</em>, now known as Haiti and Dominican Republic.</p>
<p>However, on his second voyage, Columbus enslaved the indigenous people and forced them to mine for gold and to rebuild the settlement that had been destroyed by a hurricane and bad weather in general. As karma would have it, the poor climate and lack of wealth found in the land did not work in his favor. King Ferdinand had him arrested due to the mismanagement of <em>Hispaniola</em>, and though he was never convicted, he lost most of his titles and his wealth. After one last unsuccessful voyage, he spent the last two years of his life bitter and disillusioned, still believing that he had discovered a shorter route to Asia.</p>
<p>So this is the man we are going to celebrate on October 12th? A man who didn’t even know what he had actually happened upon? Who butchered and enslaved the natives of the land he had allegedly “founded?” A bit ridiculous, I would say.</p>
<p>So I started asking myself, how is Columbus Day celebrated in other countries?</p>
<p><strong>Spain</strong></p>
<p>In Spain, the <em>Fiesta Nacional</em>, “national day,” or <em>El Día de la Hispanidad</em> is celebrated as a national holiday. This was established on the international Columbus Day as a compromise between conservatives in order to highlight the status of the monarchy and Spanish history. This day is also seen as Spain’s Day of the Armed Forces, which is celebrated with a military parade in Madrid each year, though the holiday has little importance to Spaniards in general and is normally foreshadowed by other festivities that occur on the same date.</p>
<p>A dear friend from Spain took a second to explain the celebration to me. He depicted the discreditable scene of the king, reunited with political parties and militias, to watch as part of the armed forces pathetically marched past with their tanks and government owned weapons of war, rarely used today. The celebration is so deplorable that last year they had to rent planes because they didn’t have enough arsenal to show off with. My friend, then, proceeded to clarify, “But I am not Spanish. I am Catalan. Where I am from, we don’t participate in this.”</p>
<p><strong>Italy</strong></p>
<p>Most Italians (not to be confused with Italian-Americans) I have spoken to didn’t even know when Columbus Day was. In Italy, his achievements were never really acknowledged, perhaps because most of his financing came from Spain. Celebrations can be found in Genoa, his birthplace, but it is not a national holiday.</p>
<p>So why do Italian-Americans put so much emphasis on Columbus Day, especially in New York? Especially when the truth is that he never even stepped foot in what is known today as the continental United States, and the countries he actually did walk upon try to ignore his existence completely.</p>
<p><strong>Latin America</strong></p>
<p>In most Latin American countries, <em>El Día de la Raza</em> replaces Columbus Day, which is a national holiday, though some countries have opted to change the name of the celebration to be more politically correct since “Day of Race” may sound a bit offensive and discriminatory. Argentina now celebrates <em>Día del Respecto a la Diversidad Cultural</em> (Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity).</p>
<p>In Nicaragua and Venezuela, the day was changed to <em>Día de la Resistencia Indigena</em> (The Day of Indigenous Resistance). In Chile they call the holiday <em>El Día del Encuentro de dos Mundos </em>(The Day of the Encounter Between Two Worlds), and the list goes on. Though different countries use different names for the holiday, the idea is the same. It is the celebration of the resistance against the arrival of Europeans in the Americas and at the same time the birth of a new identity, product of the encounter and fusion of the indigenous people of the land and the Spanish colonizers.</p>
<p>These governments, such as infamous Bolivarian Revolution activist Hugo Chavez, changed the name of the holiday in order to promote and bring back to light the history and the rights of the indigenous population to their nations. Argentina, for example, has over 1,600 indigenous communities, which represent the reality of the aboriginal people in the country. The National Institution of Indigenous Issues has a record of over one million residents that self-recognize as indigenous.</p>
<p>In the last couple of years, the efforts made by the aboriginal communities, together with public policies, have made possible the integration and exchange of cultures in different areas, with major emphasis on education. For example, in 2012 a public school in Buenos Aires started celebrating <em>El Día de la Pachamama</em>. <em>Pachamama</em> is a goddess admired by the indigenous people of the Andes who presides over planting and harvest, also known as Mother Earth. This was a great way to integrate the Andean or <em>Kolla</em> heritage to the cosmopolitan Buenos Aires lifestyle these kids live. The <em>Kolla’s </em>are the indigenous people of Western Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, specifically living in the Salta Provinces.</p>
<p>To celebrate, the Indigenous people gather in the main squares of Buenos Aires with their rainbow squared flags and traditional aboriginal clothing, holding signs of protest and demanding equality. Others play their <em>quenas</em> (The traditional flute of the Andes) passively resonating beautiful melodies in the background of all the mess, just happy to be there representing their people. You can hear the wind instruments as the parade of indigenous citizens march down <em>9 de Julio</em>, the widest avenue in the world, with their headdresses and colorful regalia dancing their traditional dance.</p>
<p>Now, why can’t Columbus Day in New York be that way?</p>
<p>Though the new name of the holiday in Argentina is a lot more appealing politically, it would be even more attractive if it were actually practiced. Paula Landoni has a hostel in Humahuaca, Jujuy, a city in the northern region of the country where most of the Andean indigenous population can be found. She is from Buenos Aires, born and raised, but fell in love with the people and the northern culture after visiting during a school trip at a young age. Later in life, she decided to buy a hostel and live most of the year there, where the scenery is breathtaking and the locals are calm and caring.</p>
<p>“Changing the name is not enough if the rest of the year continues with no respect towards those who think differently. … “Las diferencias nos enriquecen” (differences enrich us), “or at least that’s what I think,” she said. “It’s what we should have learned after five centuries. So even though we are on the right track, we still have a long way to go.”</p>
<p><span><em>Jessica Carro has a Master of Arts degree in investigative journalism from Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She works as a freelance journalist and focuses primarily on South American issues. She lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.</em></span></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Do Other Countries Have Columbus Day?</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/world-events-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">World Events</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jessica Carro</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/jessica-carro" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jessica Carro</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/columbus-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Columbus Day</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/hispaniola" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hispaniola</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/christopher-columbus" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christopher Columbus</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/jessica-carro" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jessica Carro</a></div></div></div>Wed, 08 Oct 2014 12:00:34 +0000mazecyrus157221 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/10/08/do-other-countries-celebrate-columbus-day#commentsAll We Are Saying Is Give Tradition a Chancehttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/03/12/we-must-reclaim-our-indian-tradition
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>He looks like he could be 60, but Baron is probably about 75 years old. No one knows exactly when he was born and neither does he. “We need you again for our drum group, we need to practice for the powwow,” said Baron. Then his face became sad and he added, ”That chairman, he won't allow us to practice in the tribal building any more. He believes that powwows are sinful, it goes against his Christian beliefs.” For a couple of weeks, we practiced in Baron's living room but his neighbors justifiably complained about the noise. We asked the local college if we could practice in their gym but they never got back to us. The powwow was approaching and we simply had no venue to practice. Then Baron found an elegant solution to our problems. Each Friday, we loaded everything on Baron's pickup truck, drove about 12 miles on a dirt road up a desolate canyon where we practiced to our heart's content.</p>
<p>Tribal traditions are under attack in Indian country because of assimilationist pressures. But traditionalists are finding novel ways to cope and in the process are becoming healthier and better off than before. Many young Indians all over the United States, Canada and South America are increasingly embracing tradition.</p>
<p>When Faith was disenrolled by her tribe over casino per-cap disputes, she started learning her language from her grandma. “I don't need the federal government or the tribe to tell me I am Indian,” she says, “I get my Indianness from my language.” And she has a point. The Sapir-Whorf theory says that a language affects the perceptions of reality of its speakers and thus determines or influences their thought patterns and worldviews. This theory tells us that if we speak in an Indian language, we also start thinking like an Indian; likewise, if we speak in a European language like English, we think like a European and eventually become one. If this isn't a strong enough reason to learn our languages, we don't know what is.</p>
<p>Nineteen-year old Elizabeth strives to emulate her ancestors. She refuses to have her picture taken; and like her ancestors, she even refuses to point. When Elizabeth received a $250 award at the year-end party, she immediately gave the money to a needy elder who was sitting next to her. Her ancestors would have done the same thing. We always valued giving over receiving. Wealth was measured by how much you gave away rather than how much you had: a man with one horse who had given away three was wealthier than someone with ten horses who hadn't given away any.</p>
<p>A friend, Tyler, sews elaborate traditional clothes when a person dies. In three days, these clothes so painstakingly sewn by Tyler are burned in the traditional ceremony. But that does not deter Tyler. He still puts enormous effort into his sewing and makes the very best clothes even though he knows they will be burned three days later at the funeral. This is the traditional way of honoring his departed tribal members. Following tradition has given Tyler inner strength and helped him kick his heroin habit.</p>
<p>Carlton makes cradleboards. He used to keep getting into fights and would end up getting arrested until he found solace in making cradleboards the traditional way. For his cradleboards, Carlton does not buy thread from Jo-Ann's or Walmart; rather he makes his own cordage by splitting willows. Carlton is now working on completing his MBA program.</p>
<p>As for Jason, his triglyceride levels were in the 1000s, putting him at very high risk for pancreatitis. He needed to get those levels below 150. The doctor put him on Slo-Niacin. The levels dipped by a few hundred but still remained over a thousand; cholesterol levels remained off the charts and his sugar also remained high. And he started having many other side effects with Slo-Niacin, including his AST level shooting high. That’s when Jason decided to eat the protein-based diet that our ancestors ate. He started using his fingers, instead of using a spoon or a fork. And he also began to eat while sitting on the floor like ancient Indians. If you use your fingers and sit on the floor, you tend to eat less.</p>
<p>Next, Jason researched the ingredients in Lovaza, the medication that is prescribed to control triglyceride levels (465 mg EPA and 375 mg DHA), and made sure he got those omega-3 fatty acids through natural means like fish, flax seed, etc. He completely gave up on his daily addiction to fry bread (which is not a traditional food anyway). Jason also started running each day like his ancestors. Within only three weeks, his triglyceride, cholesterol and sugar levels amazingly dropped to normal range and have remained so ever since. Jason's physician was convinced some other doctor was treating him but Jason was only following the traditional path of eating protein-based foods and running like our ancestors. Three weeks is all it took for tradition to take effect.</p>
<p>Give tradition a second chance and see the miracle for yourself. When we follow tradition, the spirits of our ancestors smile down on us. Tradition helps. Tradition soothes. Tradition heals. Tradition cures. Tradition certainly does not mean rejecting modernization and scientific progress. But it does mean recognizing that traditional Indian values are vastly different from the values of the shallow and materialistic society presented to us by the colonizers. Indians have admirable traditions. Family-orientedness, courage, loyalty, sacrifice, generosity, honoring elders, being respectful to women, never interrupting, being tolerant of all people whether they are gay or of some other race, not focusing on material values, forgiving others, helping our fellow humans, being gentle with children, giving thanks to the Creator every day, being kind to animals, treating the Earth and the environment with utmost respect – these and more are all part of our sacred traditions.</p>
<p>Indians are not made like the white man. When we eat the white man's foods, we get diabetes and other illnesses. When we depart from the red road and follow the white man's path, Indian society pays with consequences like alcoholism and suicides. When we aspire for what the mainstream society aspires, our social and moral fabric breaks down and Indian families are ripped up by jealousy and material selfishness. The Great Spirit never told us to value money and accumulate wealth; the media tells us that. When we start valuing what the colonizers value, whether it is casino wealth or financial gains from oil drilling on reservation land, we pay with consequences one way or the other.</p>
<p>Sometimes these consequences are obvious and immediately evident to all, as in when a tribe recently waved a final goodbye to Indian tradition and constructed a casino over the bodies of their buried Indian ancestors. However, the most serious consequences of departing from tradition are not immediately evident; the price will nevertheless be paid by our children, grandchildren and our seventh generation who may no longer be Indian as a result of our actions.</p>
<p><em>Mike Taylor is a student in the ALB program at Harvard University and hopes to serve as a physician on isolated and remote Indian reservations. Amy Moore is passionate about saving as many Indian languages as possible. If your tribal college or university would like to offer your indigenous language class online to a much wider audience through avenues like Coursera, you can contact her at <a href="mailto:amymoore999@gmail.com">amymoore999@gmail.com</a>.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">We Must Reclaim Our Indian Tradition</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/health" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Health</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mike Taylor &amp; Amy Moore</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/mike-taylor" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Mike Taylor</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/amy-moore" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Amy Moore</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/treaty-fort-laramie" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Health</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/indian-casinos" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tradition</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/indian-tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Indian Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/ictmn-logo" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ictmn logo</a></div></div></div>Wed, 12 Mar 2014 15:01:43 +0000mazecyrus153967 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/03/12/we-must-reclaim-our-indian-tradition#commentsSacred Indian Sites Are Desecrated While Congress Fiddleshttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/13/sacred-indian-sites-are-desecrated-while-congress-fiddles
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The recent government shutdown illuminated our country’s deep concern for its official national monuments. When federal personnel erected barricades blocking access to cultural icons in Washington, D.C., the public protest was immediate and loud. Meanwhile, Congressional representatives sitting on the Natural Resources and Oversight and Government Reform Committees — although unable to perform their most basic functions like passing a budget or funding governmental operations — believed it necessary to spend time holding hearings to investigate the closure of those U.S. landmarks held sacred by Americans. Sadly, the recent concern for American nationally recognized monuments, parks and landmarks starkly contrasts the lack of societal concern for Indian country’s sacred places, which perpetually face permanent “shutdown” — if not outright destruction — by looters, private developers, and government agencies alike.</p>
<p>In Indian Country, ancient village sites, treaty-protected fishing sites, sacred landmarks, and tribal burial grounds are routinely damaged or demolished by private and public developers. The desecration has resulted from a wide array of projects, ranging from energy development to highway expansion. Too often, the commercial proponents and governmental permitting agencies show open disdain for the voice of tribal governments seeking to protect their few remaining cultural monuments. If they don’t overtly ignore legal protections afforded to tribal cultural resources, they more often than not do the bare minimum required under federal and state law, which, in the end, is not much at all.</p>
<p>Take the wanton acts of the City of Oak Harbor, Washington. Determined to complete a road project through a known Indian archaeological site, the city bulldozed tribal burial grounds and unearthed human remains, treating ancestors in the same manner as one would treat garbage. Some ancestral remains were found in piles marked “free dirt,” open for the taking. The Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation “<a href="http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/news/211627071.html" target="_blank">warned the city</a> about the likelihood of cultural remains and recommended that the city hire an archeologist and create a plan to deal with inadvertent discoveries of cultural materials.” The city committed to follow the state’s recommendations, but in the end broke its promises and destroyed an ancient tribal burial ground. Now it faces a class-action lawsuit.</p>
<p>Likewise, <a href="http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_24344328/caltrans-looks-make-amends-agency-working-tribe-after" target="_blank">California’s state transportation agency is now looking to “make amends”</a> with the Sherwood Band of Pomo Indians after a sacred site was “not just destroyed [but] eviscerated” during excavation for a highway bypass project near the town of Willits. Caltrans reportedly knew the site was located in the project area “but — due to a typographical error, poor geographical descriptions or mapping problems — believed it was located ‘well away’ from the actual construction site.” No matter what truly happened in Oak Harbor, Washington and Willits, California, the permanent harms have been inflicted, and they cannot be adequately mitigated, regardless of monetary damages awarded or any ordered repatriation plan.</p>
<p><em>Mitigation</em> is the magic regulatory word governments and project proponents use to legally justify the destruction of tribal cultural properties. The <a href="http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&amp;sid=210a908f8500304143a575047849076c&amp;rgn=div8&amp;view=text&amp;node=36:3.0.6.1.1.2.1.4&amp;idno=36" target="_blank">regulations</a> implementing Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, for example, require federal agencies charged with review of projects that may destroy tribal sacred sites to do nothing more than analyze and develop “alternatives or modifications to the undertaking that could avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse effects” on sacred tribal sites. This is ultimately a toothless requirement, consistent with the overall hollow “procedural” mandates of the NHPA and the National Environmental Policy Act, as well as similar state laws that purportedly protect indigenous cultural properties. Put another way, as long as the destruction of a sacred Indian site is “mitigated” in the eyes of federal bureaucrats, that destruction is deemed legal, and affected indigenous communities are left desperate to prevent the permanent and irreparable harm to their people, history, and culture.</p>
<p>To illustrate, a federal agency may legally approve a project to take open public lands on which an ancient village site may have been situated, and transform them into thousands of acres of wind turbines. This type of action generally results in blocking tribal access to traditional foods, medicines, and ancestral hunting grounds, if not the complete destruction of sacred cairns and other sites. This destruction is considered legal so long as the responsible federal agency has gone through the motions of the Section 106 process and provides some — in reality, <em>any</em> — level of “mitigation” — which is often illusory and, in fact, not really mitigation at all. If all of the procedural boxes have been checked, the project very likely cannot be stopped through any legal action. And the ongoing damage may continue undeterred, and unnoticed or unheralded by everyone but the Indigenous People whose culture is irreparably harmed in the process.</p>
<p>Imagine the American outcry that would result if a highway was constructed through part of Arlington National Cemetery and the government contractor tossed bulldozed human remains into piles marked “free dirt.” Imagine if a company could build a wind farm on the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, and was required by the Department of the Interior to do nothing more than mitigate for the “adverse impacts” to the national landmark — perhaps by putting up a sign to advertise the historic significance of that site or funding a video recounting the battle that was fought there. Unfortunately, these are the sorts of “mitigation” efforts that are contrived in exchange for damages to Indian Country’s sacred cemeteries and landmarks.</p>
<p>The disparate legal protections afforded to official national monuments and those aimed to protect sites sacred to American Indians will not end without a significant change to relevant laws. Under the current state of the law, those who target areas for development requiring damage to or destruction of the few sites of indigenous cultural significance remaining face nothing more than minor regulatory speed bumps. And these speed bumps do nothing substantive to prevent the wholesale destruction of Indian country’s monuments.</p>
<p>Sacred Indian sites deserve, at the very least, as much protection and reverence as we afford to America’s officially recognized national monuments. To accomplish such a goal, we need a law protecting Indian Country’s monuments with more than hollow procedural requirements. We need laws with teeth that actually protect those sacred tribal sites that haven’t yet been wiped from the face of the earth to make room for a new power line, a field of wind turbines, or wider highways.</p>
<p><em>Joe Sexton is Of Counsel at Galanda Broadman, PLLC. Practicing out of Yakima, Washington, he represents tribal governments and members in matters of cultural property and environmental resource protection. </em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sacred Indian Sites Are Desecrated</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/history" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">History</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/legal" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Legal</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/values" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Values</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Joe Sexton</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/joe-sexton" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Joe Sexton</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/archaeology" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Archaeology</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/sacred-sites" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sacred Sites</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/sherwood-band-pomo-indians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sherwood Band of Pomo Indians</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/arlington-national-cemetery" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Arlington National Cemetery</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/battle-gettysburg" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Battle of Gettysburg</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/joe-sexton" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Joe Sexton</a></div></div></div>Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:00:14 +0000mazecyrus152213 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/13/sacred-indian-sites-are-desecrated-while-congress-fiddles#commentsLetter to Tribal Leaders From Muscogee (Creek) Nationhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/16/letter-tribal-leaders-muscogee-creek-nation
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Dear Tribal Leader:</p>
<p>Several months ago a letter referencing the desecration of Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground) was sent out by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians that was full of misinformation and distorted facts. Although some time has passed since you may have received that letter, we of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation have remained vigilant in our stance of opposition to their plans to expand a casino over our traditional homelands. Our continued actions in the legal systems and public arenas demonstrate our conviction to stop the desecration of Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground).</p>
<p>I am writing to relate the important reasons why the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is seeking to preserve Hickory Ground. It is important to you because this case raises issues of cultural sovereignty rights that are important to all Tribal Nations.</p>
<p>In 1980, Hickory Ground was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, as the last capitol of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation prior to our forced removal to Indian Territory. Also, Hickory Ground has historic significance because the undisturbed burials and sacred funerary objects of our ancestors were located there, and the area was also a sacred ceremonial ground of our ancestors.</p>
<p>Over the past two decades, our Nation steadfastly opposed commercial development at Hickory Ground that would desecrate the ceremonial grounds, burials and graves of our ancestors. Despite our objections, approximately 57 sets of human remains and associated funerary objects were excavated to develop a gaming facility at Hickory Ground. We believe this excavation violated the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), as well as several other federal laws enacted to protect sacred Indian lands.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of this conflict is that another Indian tribe, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, is responsible for the excavation and desecration at Hickory Ground. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation strongly supports the rights of all Indian Tribes to conduct gaming and pursue economic development. However, we don not believe these rights trump the deeply held tribal values of respecting ancestors, burial sites, ceremonial grounds and cultural sovereignty. The Poarch Band has turned away our people who have attempted to conduct ceremonies for those ancestors that have been disturbed and displaced, and made claims against our people that have been dismissed in orderly legal processes. In light of all that has happened, our Muscogee (Creek) people have shown admirable restraint.</p>
<p>I am hopeful that awareness of Hickory Ground will lead to greater protection for Native American human remains, and that your Nation will support our efforts to strengthen federal laws to protect our sacred places and cultural rights for future generations.</p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>George Tiger, Principal Chief, Muscogee (Creek) Nation</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div></div></div></fieldset>
<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">To Tribal Leaders From Muscogee (Creek)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/history" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">History</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/values" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Values</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">George Tiger</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/muscogee-creek-nation-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Muscogee (Creek) Nation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/george-tiger" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George Tiger</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/hickory-ground" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hickory Ground</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/native-american-graves-protection-and-repatriation-act" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/nagpra" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">NAGPRA</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/poarch-band-creek-indians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Poarch Band Of Creek Indians</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/national-register-historic-places" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">National Register of Historic Places</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/george-tiger" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George Tiger</a></div></div></div>Wed, 16 Oct 2013 16:00:03 +0000mazecyrus151770 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/16/letter-tribal-leaders-muscogee-creek-nation#commentsCelebrating Indigenous Peoples Day, 2013http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/celebrating-indigenous-peoples-day-2013
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>As dawn broke over the Atlantic on October 12, 1492, a perilous ten-week journey across a timeless ocean gave way to encounters and events that would dramatically shape the course of history, and be forever regarded by Europeans as the “discovery” of America. Today, we recall the courage and the innovative spirit that carried Christopher Columbus and his crew from Palos, Spain to North America, as we celebrate our heritage as a people born of many histories and traditions.</p>
<p>However, on his first voyage, when the Admiral of the Sea and his men laid anchor in Guanahani, an island called San Salvador by the Spanish, in the Bahamas, they met indigenous peoples who had inhabited the Western hemisphere for millennia. Columbus promptly instituted policies of slavery and systematic extermination against the native Taino population. He would later sail Africans to the islands to work as slaves replacing the dwindling Tiano population as a result of the brutality inflicted upon them. As many as eight million Tiano people existed at the outset of his regime to about three million in 1496, and perhaps leaving 100,000 by the time of the governor's departure in 1500. Columbus’s expedition founded the school of thought which would continue to be applied in the further “settling” of the North American continent for the next several centuries. While some estimates claim that during Hitler’s reign, approximately six million Jews were killed during WWII, and more than one-hundred million Indigenous individuals and hundreds of millions of Africans were slaughtered during the African/Native American holocaust — making Columbus the greatest mass murderer of the Western-hemisphere.</p>
<p>In a series of recent interviews I had conducted in Italy, many Italians were surprised to hear Columbus was an Indian killer, and that Columbus Day was celebrated in America. They only know he “discovered the New World.” Stephania, who lives in one of the small communes outside of Montefalco asserts, “Ï guess the Indians were better off before he came.” The same sentiment was expressed by four individuals visiting from England stating, “We had no idea this history existed.” It’s apparent, America’s and Italy’s education system, as well as others, are engaged in erasing the memory of an entire race of people through distorted history— a systematic way of deceiving and lying to adults and children. Not only are individuals presented with biased history, but also subjected to an ever-growing culture of capitalism, in which commercialization of an ambiguous holiday merely pulls us away from facts and meaning.</p>
<p>For example, History books tell the story of only a few Native American women, mostly because of their assistance to white America’s myth-building identity. Everyone has heard the story of Pocahontas, the friendly Indian “princess” that saved the life of a white man and then became an example of a savage turned civilized back in England. Sacagawea, the Hidatsa woman who led Lewis and Clark through the rugged terrain of the Western United States, thus paving the way for the colonization of the West. The images of these women have done more detriment than good for the modern Native American woman. Images of the “good” Indian have served to propagate stereotypes that harm contemporary Native women’s progress and color others’ perceptions about us.</p>
<p>As we reflect on this tragic past and the burdens tribal communities bore in the years that followed, let us turn a new chapter by commemorating the many contributions American Indians have made to the American experience. On this 521th anniversary of Columbus's expedition to the West, let us press forward with renewed determination and spirit toward tomorrow's new frontiers in understanding a new time and space.</p>
<p>For many Italian Americans, the native of Genoa, Christopher Columbus, inspired many generations of Italian immigrants to follow in his wanting of discovery and to seek new opportunities. For American Indians, this could be a way to chronicle and celebrate the many contributions of our rich heritage on the “New World” meeting ground on this day, October 14 as Indigenous People’s Day, 2013.</p>
<p><span><span><em>Julianne Jennings (Nottoway) is an anthropologist.</em></span></span></p>
<p> </p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day, 2013</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/sovereignty" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sovereignty</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Julianne Jennings</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/julianne-jennings-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Julianne Jennings</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/indigenous-peoples-day-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Indigenous People’s Day</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/columbus-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Columbus Day</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/christopher-columbus" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christopher Columbus</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/sacagawea" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sacagawea</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/lewis-and-clark" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Lewis and Clark</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/julianne-jennings" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Julianne Jennings</a></div></div></div>Mon, 14 Oct 2013 20:59:25 +0000mazecyrus151753 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/celebrating-indigenous-peoples-day-2013#commentsNIGA Talks About Columbus Day and the History of Indian Countryhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/niga-talks-about-columbus-day-and-history-indian-country
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>As the chairman and vice chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, we offer this Columbus Day message on behalf of the 184 tribes that form our organization. Throughout this great and diverse Nation, there are certain holidays that carry more weight for certain segments of our nation than for others. This is true for Indian people as well. There are certain holidays that generate discussion amongst our Tribal citizens and their tribal governments because they speak to our place in the history of this great democracy. Columbus Day is certainly one of those holidays.</p>
<p>Indian people have their own governments, cultures, societies, and values that were in place long before we were supposedly “discovered.” Our status as preexisting sovereign nations is acknowledged in the Constitution of the United States in three separate sections. The treaties our ancestors signed with the United States are still in force today and are as the Constitution states: “The supreme law of the land.” Tribes have great respect <img alt="Kevin Leecy" class="media-image media-image-left" height="143" style="width: 115px; height: 143px; margin: 2px; float: left;" width="115" typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://d1jrw5jterzxwu.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/default/files/uploads/screen_shot_2013-10-14_at_11.13.25_am.png" title="" />for the preservation of our roles as separate sovereigns under the Constitution and at the same time Indian people are proud American citizens as shown through our high rates of participation in military service to this nation. Tribes are determined to uphold their rights assured through the treaties with the United States of America and to ensure that our children are provided with accurate historical accounts of our families, societies, governments, and status as separate nations, as well as our true place in world history.</p>
<p>Therefore, each Columbus Day we must take time to talk about the history of our Indian nations before and after “discovery.” The truth of Christopher Columbus, or Cristoforo Colombo as he was known in his time, has been well documented and it is one which we, as Indian people, should never forget. We can no more forget the tremendous genocide that started with Christopher Columbus’ enslavement of Native people on his first visit to America, any more than we can afford to forget the massacres hundreds of years later by the U.S. Cavalry on our ancestors, elders, women and children. Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, and the Trail of Tears come to mind when I think about our history and it hurts to know that Colombus’s voyage was the beginning of centuries of subjugation of our people. In that maiden voyage of the Ninã, Pintã, and Santa Maria, names American school children can recite from memory, Columbus landed on the Island of Hispanola (now the Dominican Republic and Haiti). After remarking in his captain’s log of the hospitality he and his men received, Colombus wantonly killed and enslaved the Arawak people he found thus beginning his quest for gold and glory. Unfortunately, this was just the beginning for indigenous people in the Americas. Centuries of government sponsored oppression, thefts of land, outlawing of religions and languages, mass removals, and massacres were to follow. </p>
<p>We cannot turn back the calendar anymore than we can change today the outcomes of those terrible events experienced by every tribe in this country. We cannot change history, but we can change the manner in which the facts of history are celebrated and taught in our schools. There is another side of the story about Columbus and his voyage. The true Native American history, of thriving economies and sophisticated systems of government which existed long before they were “discovered,” is rarely taught in our schools, and is rarely mentioned or acknowledged.</p>
<p>In 2008, Congress passed and President Obama signed House Joint Resolution 62 designating the day after Thanksgiving as “National Native American Heritage Day.” The resolution developed as a bi-partisan effort under the Bush Administration and in 2009 President Obama signed the “Native American Apology Resolution” sponsored by former Senator and current Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback. </p>
<p>These are steps the United States has taken to at least acknowledge the mistakes of the past and the atrocities committed in dealing with America’s first people. It also signals a willingness to balance the misleading historical record taught through Columbus Day with a day of recognition for the Native American contributions to this great Country. It is a small step, but Tribes intend to build off the impact of the Apology and Heritage Day laws and make further progress to shed light on the ‘real’ history of this country.</p>
<p>For Indian country, educating our children about the past is as much of a responsibility as anything our Tribal Governments can do for the general welfare of their people. As Indian leaders, we urge all of the communities across the country to take a few minutes today and acknowledge the accurate history, both before and after contact, of the proud people you know today as Native Americans.</p>
<p>As we celebrate other holidays, Indian Country will be calling on your communities to honor and celebrate Native American Heritage Day on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Tribal Governments and National Tribal Organizations such as NCAI and our organization, will be calling on Congress to take the final step and designate Native American Heritage Day a national holiday. Even though we have a long way to go and many opinions to influence, Indian Country is united in obtaining a national holiday that acknowledges American history as well as the narrative history of the Native Americans supposedly “discovered” by Christopher Columbus. </p>
<p>Respectfully,</p>
<p>Ernest L. Stevens Jr., chairman, National Indian Gaming Association; and Kevin Leecy, chairman, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians, vice chairman, National Indian Gaming Association</p>
</div></div></div></div></fieldset>
<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Columbus Day Message From Indian Country</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/discrimination" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Discrimination</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/government" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Government</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/politics" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Politics</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/racism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Racism</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ernest L. Stevens Jr. &amp; Kevin Leecy</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/ernest-l-stevens-jr" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ernest L. Stevens Jr.</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/kevin-leecy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Kevin Leecy</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/columbus-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Columbus Day</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/christopher-columbus" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christopher Columbus</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/national-indian-gaming-association" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">National Indian Gaming Association</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/niga" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">NIGA</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/wounded-knee" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Wounded Knee</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/sand-creek" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sand Creek</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/trail-tears" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Trail of Tears</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/arawak" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Arawak</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/sam-brownback" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Sam Brownback</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/canada" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Barack Obama</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/ernie-stevens%2C-jr." typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ernie Stevens, Jr.</a></div></div></div>Mon, 14 Oct 2013 17:00:17 +0000mazecyrus151738 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/niga-talks-about-columbus-day-and-history-indian-country#commentsBig Whoop, It's Columbus Dayhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/big-whoop-its-columbus-day
<fieldset class="field-group-fieldset group-opinions-body form-wrapper" id="node_opinion_rss_group_opinions_body"><legend><span class="fieldset-legend">Body</span></legend><div class="fieldset-wrapper"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div class="x_MsoNormal">Sadotturday I was made to remember what it is like to celebrate a holiday that has nothing to do with me. Columbus Day in the U.S. and Thanksgiving in Canada. I did not like that, but what Indians (Indio Indians, not sub-continent Indians) think about these two holidays apparently drive our readership numbers. In all honesty, I could care less about what American holiday drives our readership numbers. I am not about reinforcing American values or their understanding of the world. <span> </span>That is not what ICTMN is about; it is about sharing what we think about the world.</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">I want you to understand what we, the Indigenous of this land think of the world and universe.</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">I did not realize it was to be Columbus Day until I was rudely and unceremoniously alerted to this fact, a fact that equals in my book as quaint trivia. A bullshit fact. I treat Columbus Day as I did the rantings of my children, when they were in fact children, and my grandkids who are in fact real children. I ignore them when they misbehave or plead with me to do something I know is wrong for them. I ignore them, only because it is wrong to beat them. Love over anger. Reason over irrationality. Logic over preconceived notions. Power over weakness. Patience over want.</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">I am a Mohawk, Ogwehonweh, an original person, and a human being. My peoples first contact with the infant Europeans were with the Dutch, not the Spanish or with their paid explorer Christopher Columbus, Christophe Colon depending with whom you ask.</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">I do not fear Columbus Day; this day does not change my people’s reality. It actually means nothing to us. Our reality is that we sit and wait. That is what the old timers mean when they say, “We were here long before they came, and we will be here long after these interlopers leave, or die away from their own greed and spite. Hang on to our ceremonies and don’t forget where we come from.”</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">The American as child is a picture worth imagining. New on the scene, blessed with great resources and power, none of which are of their own making, strut about the globe as a male peacock strolls his pen amongst his captured flock. But it is not about the feathers; it is about the pen within which they strut. In the end, look as good as your might allows, but in the end you are in a pen. A pen of your own making.</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">Does it matter that today is Columbus Day? Not to me or my kin. Does it matter that it is Canadian Thanksgiving Day? Well, not really, Canada gives nothing, but they do like their sibling United States of America, they take plenty, they share plenty and none of it is of their own to give.</div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal"> </div>
<div class="x_MsoNormal">Happy Columbus Day America, and happy Thanksgiving Canada may you both reap what you sow.</div>
</div></div></div></div></fieldset>
<div class="field field-name-field-short-title field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Short title:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Big Whoop, It&#039;s Columbus Day</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/category/discrimination" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Discrimination</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/category/tradition" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tradition</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-full-name field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Full name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Ray Cook, Opinions Editor</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/ray-cook-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ray Cook</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/mohawk" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Mohawk</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/ogwehonweh" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ogwehonweh</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/christopher-columbus" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christopher Columbus</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/columbus-day" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Columbus Day</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author-image field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Author image:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/author/ray-cook" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ray Cook</a></div></div></div>Mon, 14 Oct 2013 15:00:41 +0000mazecyrus151736 at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.comhttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/10/14/big-whoop-its-columbus-day#comments